


Flaming Moon

by KaMo_Writer



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alive!Yue, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Oneshot, Rarepair, Yue Survives AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:41:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26699977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaMo_Writer/pseuds/KaMo_Writer
Summary: Only a month ago did Yue find Zuko half dead in the snow. And yet already she feels as if deciding to take him in was the most important decision she had ever made.
Relationships: Yue/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 54





	Flaming Moon

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is something I did for a little challenge where I took two random characters from Avatar and put them in a oneshot together. I've been writing fanfiction for a long, long time but I've never posted one like this before. That being said, this is my first ever work on AO3! Yay!

Yue was a princess. She had a duty to her people, and she did not take that responsibility lightly.

  
And yet…

  
No. She was Yue, Princess of the Northern Water Tribe, she was engaged, she could not fall in love with someone else, least of all the enemy, and especially not the prince of the Fire Nation.

  
But at the same time, she knew that she could. She could run away, and they could find somewhere, maybe on an island, where they could be happy.

  
But could she really do that? Could she live with the guilt? Could she really turn her back on her tribe whom she had devoted her life to? Would she ever really be free of the responsibility that came with being a princess?

  
And would Zuko be willing? The only thing he seemed to want was his honor back, to capture the Avatar, and to be accepted again into his family. None of that would happen if he ran away with a Water Tribe princess.

  
But there was another question Yue found more pressing than she wanted to admit. Did Zuko love her as much as she thought he did? It could be so hard to read the Firebender’s emotions, especially since he didn’t seem to know most of them himself.

  
So many questions, not enough answers. Too many choices, not enough decisions. Yue wasn’t sure if she could take it. She needed to talk to someone, someone specific.

  
Yue walked out from the courtyard, taking the path to the very edge of the city, at the bottom of the mountain behind the buildings. At the foot of the mountain, she spotted the hidden entrance to a cave. She looked around, making sure no one was watching her, and slipped into the entrance.

  
Yue couldn’t help but smile when she saw Prince Zuko sleeping on the ground, wrapped up in one of Yue’s fur coats, his face pressed into the fur. Yue reached forward and gently pushed him awake. “Zuko, it’s me, Yue.”

  
Zuko mumbled incoherently. His eyes opened, and he blinked up sleepily at her. To her surprise, he smiled. “Yue?” Yue nodded as Zuko sat up and leaned against the wall. Zuko yawned, stretching as best as he could in the small cave. He turned to the princess. “Why are you here? Do you have something to tell me?”

  
Yue shook her head. “I, I don’t know why I came here. I guess I just needed the company. I’m sorry for waking you up.”

  
Zuko did something else to surprise her. “No, it’s okay.” Yue blinked at the prince. In all the time she had known him, she had never known him to be anything other than overly grumpy, especially after he had just woken up. Not once had he been anywhere near this forgiving.

  
That being said though, she hadn’t exactly known him for very long. Only about a month ago had she found him unconscious in the snow just outside the city walls, slowly dying from the cold. Despite knowing he was the enemy, she couldn’t help but take him in. She was no Waterbender, but she was an excellent healer, and it wasn’t long before she had successfully nursed him back to health.

  
Once he could stay awake long enough to speak to her, they quickly got to know each other. At first, Zuko hadn’t trusted her. He refused to talk to her and wouldn’t accept food or water. Eventually, he got to the point where he would tell her about himself, but only a select few things. He would go on and on about how he was sure the Avatar would be coming soon, and how he would finally be able to capture his prize and restore his honor. But at some point he had stopped talking about himself, and asked Yue questions about her. She quickly found herself telling him everything, even the things she had previously refused to admit to herself. She told him how much she disliked the man she was engaged to, how much she wished she could leave him and choose for herself. She talked about how she couldn’t do that, because she loved her tribe too much. She had a duty to her people, and she had to follow through on that.

  
Zuko, she learned, was a surprisingly adept listener. She could go on for an hour about the first time she met her soon-to-be husband and he wouldn’t zone out or interrupt even once. Sometimes he would even give his own opinion about her predicament, a statement here, a comment there, and he’d sound so wise when he’d say it, like he was much older than he looked. Though she’d checked, he said he was only sixteen, the same age as she was.

  
Yue shook her head, snapping herself back to the present situation. Zuko was watching her, with an expression like he was recalling the same things she was. Then, suddenly, he asked something she’d never dreamed he’d say. “Yue,” he asked, breaking the silence. “You’ve already told me you don’t like your fiance. If you could choose, who would you marry instead?”

  
For some reason, the question flustered Yue, and her cheeks reddened. “I-I don’t know,” she stammered, “No one from the North Pole, that’s for sure.”

  
Zuko nodded awkwardly, avoiding her gaze. “If I go back to the Fire Nation, with my honor restored, it probably won’t be long before something similar happens to me.”

  
Yue blinked at him.

  
“My father will have me engaged to some crazy firebending nobleman’s daughter that I won’t be able to stand. But of course, then I’ll be stuck with her, miserable, for the rest of my life.” He looked at the floor, looking torn, and maybe a little angry. Or a lot angry. It was hard to tell with Zuko, who looked like he was angry all the time. Maybe he was angry all the time. Yue wasn’t sure.

  
A thought came into Yue’s mind, one that made her heart beat very fast. One that she had thought many times before. But could she be brave enough to say it out loud?

  
Luckily, Zuko spoke first. “Yue, would you want to…” he trailed off. “Nevermind, it’s a bad idea.”

  
Now Yue was curious. “What?”

  
Zuko’s face reddened, making Yue blush. Zuko sighed and shook himself violently, as if trying to free himself from some unseen thing holding him back. “Yue,” he said again, “Would you want to run away with me?”

  
Yue gasped, her heart beating frantically. Why did she feel this way? Obviously she was going to have to say no. But for some reason she couldn’t. “I, I don’t know…”

  
“We could leave, go far away from here. You don’t have to stay here if you’re not happy. You could try your luck somewhere else. With, uh, me.” His face turned red again and he scowled, as if angry at his own embarrassment.

  
Yue knew she wanted to. But how could she? Maybe instead of saying no, it would be easier to try to change his mind? “But what about the Avatar? What about your honor?” she reminded him. “You’ve been searching for nearly three years, you can’t give up now.”

  
Zuko’s scowl deepened. “You’re right, I have been searching for years, and I’m sick of it. Part of me doesn’t even want to go back. The only two people I’ve ever cared about, my mother and my uncle, aren’t even there. Instead, going back would mean seeing my ‘perfect’ sister and the father who banished me. Why would I want that? And besides, maybe I don’t want honor. Maybe I want someone who knows, and genuinely cares about me.” He stared hard at Yue, who found she couldn’t look away.

  
“I can’t,” Yue said quietly, “I’m the princess, I have a responsibility, a duty to my people. I can’t abandon them like this. My father wants me to-”

  
Zuko’s expression went from curiosity to anger. “What your father wants? What about what you want? If I’ve learned anything from my life, it’s that Nation Leaders make terrible fathers. You can’t just let yourself suffer!” he exhaled, calming himself down. “What do _you_ want Yue?”

  
Yue hesitated. What did she want? She wasn’t sure she had ever specifically asked herself that question before. She wanted her tribe to prosper, and she wanted the war to end, she knew that. But what did she want for herself? She thought for a moment. Maybe there was something she wanted, something she’d been wanting for a while now. Then she realized. She knew exactly what she wanted.

  
Tears ran down her face, and she slumped to the floor holding herself tightly. After weeks of knowing, she couldn’t hide the truth anymore. “Zuko, I, I want you,” she whispered.

  
Zuko looked shocked, which surprised Yue. Didn’t he already know that? After all she had done to help him, all the times she had come to visit him, all the times she had risked getting caught, how could it have been any other way?

  
Zuko stood there awkwardly, looking like he didn’t know what to do as the Water Tribe princess cried on the floor. After a few minutes, the flow of tears stopped. She sat up, shaking, and stood tall. She wiped her tears away.

  
“Okay.”

  
Zuko cocked his head questioningly.

  
“I’m going with you. You're going to have to leave at some point and I am _not_ saying goodbye.”

  
Zuko looked happier than Yue had ever seen him. “Really? You’ll leave your tribe behind?”

  
Yue nodded. “You were right, I’m not happy here. I never was. Satisfied, maybe, but not happy. My people will survive without me.”

  
Zuko leaned forward and took her hand, forcing her to look at him in the eyes. “Yue, are you sure? There may be no going back.”

“Yes,” she squeezed his hand gently. “I’m sure, Zuko. I have to do this. I’m never going to be happy if I don’t.”

  
Zuko grabbed her other hand, closing his eyes for a few moments. “If you’re sure,” he said, opening his eyes, “We’ll have to leave as soon as we can. Pack your bags, we’re leaving tomorrow at dawn. Be there on time, because I’m not leaving without you.”

  
Yue smiled at the firebender. Before she could stop herself, she lunged forward, wrapping him up in a warm embrace. Zuko hugged her tightly, resting his chin on her scalp. “I love you, Zuko,” she whispered.

  
“I love you too, Yue.”

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, thank you to any of you who managed to stumble across my humble little fic. Hope you liked it! And if you didn't, well that's completely understandable. XD.


End file.
